now more than ever
by GoldenEyez
Summary: Not quite sure where to go with the summary yet. My first story..so it can go anywhere. Basically InuKag, SanMir and a new couple..dundundun! but yeah... R&R let me know what you think :


Chapter 1: confessions

"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha screamed as the forceful attack hit the youkai straight between the eyes. As if the end of an action movie, Inuyasha walked through the debris and smoke with his head held high and a huge smirk on his face. He didn't expect what came next…

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed as she released the arrow from her firm pull, it whizzed straight passed Inuyasha's left ear and damn near cut it off in the process.

Inuyasha jerked his head to the side to see what Kagome was aiming for, when he saw that the panther youkai had survived his attack '_damn that son of a …' _he thought to himself.

Kagome's arrow hit the panther youkai straight in the heart and it immediately burst into ashes, dropping the Shikon shard it possessed before its ...second …dismay.

Miroku limped over to the pile of ash using his staff as extra support for his wounded leg and pulled out the little pink shard. After regaining his balance he walked toward Kagome's direction to have her put it with the rest when he realised that her and Inuyasha were at it again.

"What was that for, wench? You could've killed me!" Inuyasha screamed.

"I was trying to save your butt Inuyasha! How can you be so ungrateful?" Kagome screamed back.

Miroku stood there shaking his head when Sango approached him with an unconscious kitsune and a wounded Kirara in her arms.

"They'll never change, will they?" Sango said in an almost monotone voice.

"Most likely not my dear Sango, but you know as well as I do that they love each other very much. Sometimes love does funny things to you…" He stated. Just then Sango's eyes widened at the hand presently caressing her butt.

"Hentai!!" she screamed just and slapped him in the face with her free hand. The sound of the smack was enough to catch Kagome and Inuyasha's attention.

"They're hopeless" Kogome stated not realising the irony. Her and Inuyasha both sweat dropped and made their way past a flaming Sango and a red-handprint-faced Miroku and headed for the village. Sango followed suit with Shippo and Kirara in her arms. Miroku staggered along a few paces behind.

--xXx--

Kaede's hut was now in sight, about and hour more and they'd be there.

Miroku fiddled with the shard still in his hand. "you know Sango, this is our 23rd shard…and we've been hunting for these things for over a year…"

"…where are you going with this?" Sango questioned.

"Well if this is our 23rd shard, after a year and a bit of hunting…and we only have about a third of the jewel… we're going to be at this for a while"

"Tell me the almighty Miroku-san isn't thinking of giving up?"

"This is serious Sango" The tone in his voice was enough to slap the smirk off Sango's face.

"But we also have to keep in mind that Naraku possesses half the shard," Sango reminded him "and we know he wont attack until his body is completely healed from the last battle. So in essence we just have to beat him to the remaining shards."

"This is true my dearest Sango, you have always had a way with cheering me up"

Further up along the path, Inuyasha counted her down in a quiet voice only he and Kagome could hear being side by side…

"3...2...1..."

"LETCHER!!" SMACK

Inuyasha and Kagome laughed as Sango began chasing Miroku down the hill in front of them.

Inuyasha and Kagome were alone now. Inuyasha's mind was focused on how that panther youkai could have possibly survived his attack. He had killed far stronger demons than that before with the same attack.

'_I wasn't concentrating enough'_ he thought to himself '_or maybe you have a certain some one constantly on your mind…'_ his other half told him.

'_stay out of this'_

'_Ummm…NO!'_

'_great now I'm going mental, I'm talking to myself…in my head!'_

'_oh come on fuck-tard just admit it she was on your mind, and you lost concentration in your attack'_

'_lies! All lies! I don't lose concentration.. and especially not over some overly-aggravated school girl!'_ Inuyasha screamed to himself.

'_touchy touchy…well no matter what you say I know you were distracted and all you've been thinking about is how you're going to tell her that you…'_

his other half was caught in mid-lecture when he heard Kagome mutter something. He waited for her to repeat herself.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome said with and almost depressed tone of voice.

"Oi! What is it wench?" Inuyasha replied but regretted his words when he saw Kagome cringe at the word 'wench'.

"I've been with you guys hunting down the shards for more than a year Inuyasha and you still call em names and put me down! Why?" her eyes started to fill with tears.

Inuyasha hated to see her cry. He did the only thing he could think of and he just stopped walking. Stopped dead in his tracks. Kagome stopped as well.

Inuyasha plopped himself down on the nearest rock and kagome followed silently and sat cross legged in front of him. After a long silence, Inuyasha spoke up

'_and this is the part where you get to SAY IT!'_

'_But…'_

"Kagome," His words startled him, he hadn't expected to speak. "I don't know… I…I'm just…that's how I know to be.. I don't know how to be anything else."

Kagome blinked hard for a moment. "why don't you just be yourself…you don't have to act for me"

Each word Kogome spoke ate at Inuyasha, he loved her. He truly and really loved her…more than anyone or anything before, even when he thought he loved Kikyo…he never really did. But this, right now…her…it was love.

Inuyasha let his gaze wander form the ground right into Kagome's eyes. He wanted to tell her how much she really meant to him but he just couldn't conjure up the nerve, so instead he held her. Grabbed her up from her sitting position on the ground and held her tight in his arms snuggling into her like a puppy.

Kagome was surprised at his actions, but soon melted into his embrace. She couldn't even think properly. Her mind went numb and she just let herself relax. She liked this, she felt so safe in his arms, like nothing could ever hurt her.

"I…Inu…Yasha" Kagome mumbled into the sleeve of his haori.

"huh?"

Kagome squirmed a little and made herself more comfortable in his arms.

"You mean the world to me" she whispered to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before he could process what she had said and before he could react, Kagome had fallen asleep. He didn't blame her, it had been a long day for them all.

**A/N**

**Woohoo my very first chappie! EDITED! Lol fixed up a few things since before. Have a new direction I plan to follow in the story. Stay tuned mes amies**

**Cheers ****J**


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